Apples and Oranges
by SuperNova
Summary: When the life he made for himself suddenly falls apart, Brandon is faced with some difficult choices. But with the help of an old friend, he finds he can carry on (AU)
1. Default Chapter

  
  
Brandon stifled a yawn and he collapsed into the easy chair, picking up the remote from the  
coffee table. He turned the tv  
on and flipped though the channels. Why wasn't anything good on? After a few minutes he  
settled on a baseball game. It was better then nothing, and after today he needed a distraction. It  
sucked to work some days. 

He was almost fast asleep when he heard the door open again thirty minutes later, revealing his  
wife and seven year old son.

Brandon got up to greet them, kissing Rachael first, then tussling Daniel's hair. 

"Hey, did you have a good time at the amusement park?" He asked the boy.

Daniel nodded, and grinned.

"Yeah! it was great! There was games and rides and all sorts of stuff! Can we go back next  
week?"

Brandon chuckled, smiling faintly as he looked up to Rachael again. She looked tired and  
drained.

"We'll see. Why don't you go to your room and get ready for dinner. I brought home some pizza."

Daniel groaned.

"Pizza again? We have pizza three times a week! Can't we go out tonight?" The boy whined.

Brandon sighed, shaking his head.

"Just go on. Now."

He watched his son stomp off to his room, then turned back to Rachel, who had already departed  
to the kitchen. He followed her, leaning on the side of the doorway. 

"Rough day, I take it?"

Rachael just shook her head, blinking rapidly. She turned away and placed a few slices of  
pepperoni pizza on a paper plate.  
Brandon frowned, walking over to lay a hand on her shoulder. 

"Are you crying?"

Rachael batted his hand away, glaring at him with an un-welcoming gaze. 

"Just forget it." She snapped. 

Brandon snorted, now irritated. She was doing this a lot lately, acting mad and never saying  
anything. He always to figure out what was wrong, but She always shut him out. And he was not  
liking it. 

"Rachael! God-dammit....what did I do this time? Tell me!"

Rachael sighed, looking down at the floor now. She wrapped her arms around her chest as tears  
started streaming down.

"I can't stand this. Our situation. Both of us have jobs, yet every payday it's a struggle to pay rent  
and the bills. We have to buy our groceries at the discount store. And we have to save up for  
months to visit a tacky amusement park for our son!"

Brandon stayed silent for a moment, since he often felt the same. But it was getting better. They  
had a joint savings account. True, it was meager right now, but it was growing. He had hope it would improve.

"I know it seems like an uphill battle. But I'm certain things will improve. It will happen,  
eventually." 

Brandon smiled to re-enforce his words, withdrawing only slightly as Daniel re-entered the room.  
The dark haired boy helped himself to a portion of the pizza and promptly seated himself. Rachel  
followed suit, grabbing a two-liter of coke from the fridge. The discussion was over....for now.

Silence reigned though the tiny two-bedroom house, something Brandon was appreciative of at  
this point. Rachael was taking a long bath in the one and only bathroom, and Daniel was doing his  
homework. Again, he shrugged into the worn easy chair in the living room.

A quick glance-over; of the thin carpet beneath him, the small blue couch beside him, and the tv  
monitor on a stand for which the furniture was faced, showed all of the objects in the room.  
Those, and a few pictures that hanged from the wall. 

True, they couldn't afford new carpet for the floor, or shiny oak wood furniture, but Brandon had  
always been able to see beyond the shabby rooms. To what they would someday have. What they  
had to have.

Brandon sighed, and looked up to the ceiling. He knew Rachael didn't see things the way he did,  
She didn't share his optimism. And She was unhappy. Maybe She had always been unhappy.

He had never expected to see her again, after he broke up with her when he caught her cheating  
with a team-mate. That was near the beginning of senior year. He never did see her again, though  
the rest of the year and graduation, except a few days after that fateful trip.

Alex and Jason had put together a rafting trip to celebrate the end of high school, inviting some  
other guy as well. It was on the third day of that trip when his uncle and aunt drive to the  
designated camp site. His mother was dead, had died of a sudden heart attack earlier that  
morning.

The news was devastating, the funeral a few days later even more so. After Brandon came home  
from that, with his grandparents, he had all but shut himself in his room. Eating very little, and  
only when his grandparents insisted. Then one day, out of the blue, Rachael was knocking at his  
bedroom door.

He had been shocked to see her again, after so long. It was awkward at first, but eventually they  
started talking. Rachael expressed her sympathy for his mother's death, and something he didn't  
expect. A heart felt apology. How sorry She was for cheating, and how She wanted to make it up  
to him. That night, they made love.

But when dawn come, and Brandon awoke the next morning, She was gone. Feeling horribly  
empty, He left town for a new life.  
He went to a new college, made some new friends, and his mothers house was sold. He kept in  
contact with Alex, but over time it waned.

Then, after his first semester, Rachael surprised him again. She showed up at his dorm room one  
day, very pregnant. After another long talk, Brandon saw how scared She was to face this alone,  
and he wanted to be there for his child, like his own father never.

They eloped in a small church, in the middle of the night. Brandon dropped out of college, and  
got a job at a local domino's.  
After a bit of searching, they found a house for rent that would fit their needs, for now.

Daniel was born a few months later, and Brandon was elated. Everything seemed so right, Daniel  
was healthy and happy, Rachael  
got a job, and they started planning for the future. 

And now, in the present, Brandon had recently been promoted to assistant manager. He was still  
on an hourly wage, but bringing home more money. And Rachael finally got good hours at her  
grocery job. But how much did that mean to her now...?

  
  


Cold. It was cold. That one thought slowly jogged around Brandon's head while he came to  
wakefulness. He yawned and sat up, immediately glancing at the clock to check the time. Almost  
11:50. He overslept but still had some time. Enough for a quick shower before work.

After the shower, he went to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He glanced at his  
watch again, reassuring himself he still had 20 minutes left. He sighed, forcing himself to relax.  
He only hoped today would go smoothly, unlike yesterday.

Still sipping out of the cup, he wanders over to the window to water Rachel's plants. He filled up  
the small plastic cup, and raised it to the plants, then stiffened.

It was snowing. Already, the ground was already covered with white, and it kept coming.  
Brandon snorted. Well, that would explain why it was so cold. And the heater was broken, to  
boot. His eyes widened as he remembered something else.

The car. He let Rachael take the car for the day, since She was dropping Daniel off at school and  
then going to her sisters. He had forgotten about that. It wasn't far to walk to domino's, he had  
done it before. But it was far enough. He had to walk all the way there. In the snow.

Brandon groaned, downing the rest of his hot drink and started fishing for his heavy coat. This  
was going to suck.

  
  


Brandon entered the store from the employee gate thirty minutes later, hang up his coat on the  
rack, and sneezed. He shivered a bit, then went to the bathroom to warm up his hands, since he  
didn't bring gloves. The hot flowing water burned at first, but   
eventually subsided. 

He shook his head, deciding to clock in already. He was already ten minutes late because the  
walk took longer then expected. He couldn't waste more time fooling around in the bathroom.

After he donned his work shirt, he punched in and headed to the office. Maggie, the other  
manager he worked with, was already there finishing up some paper work. 

"Hey, Mag," He started, "Sorry I'm late but I had some trouble here."

Maggie looked up and smiled warmly at him. She gently waved off his comment as She stood  
up. 

"Yes, I saw. Really coming down outside." She glanced out to the main kitchen, where the three  
other employees were. "We have only three drivers today. Hopefully we won't have many  
delivers."

Brandon grunted. Already he could imagine the worst. On days like this people tended to stay  
home rather then pick up. But they would just have to deal with it as it came. 

"And something else." Maggie continued. "Our wonderful store manager decided to go on  
vacation. with only a days notice. He left this morning."

Brandon groaned, sensing what She was going to say. Maggie had already was leaving after her  
shift today, to attend her great-aunt's funeral. She couldn't change her flight just because Brian  
was an idiot. However, with both Maggie and Brian gone...

"How long?" He muttered. Maggie sighed.

"Two days, not including today."

"Two days opening and closing. 12 hours...he better be willing to dish out the money for  
overtime this time. I can't believe he did this again." Brandon fumed.

Maggie nodded, patting his shoulder.

"Oh, he definitely will. Either I have to beat him senseless, or go to the general manager.  
Whichever's more painful. Will you be ok?" She said softly.

"Yeah," Brandon replied. "I'll be fine. Actually this will be good. I could use the extra money,  
and it will be nice to not have him around."

Brandon grinned slightly and Maggie chuckled.

"Well, kiddo, the place is yours now. Have fun don't work too hard." Maggie waved as She left  
the room, going into the break room to grab her things.

Brandon left as well, heading into the kitchen to check on orders, then immediately paused. One  
of the clerks was engaged in discussion with an increasingly loud customer. A customer he  
recognized from yesterday.

"I'll handle this, Pete." He stated while waving the young man away. He turned back to the  
customer. "How can I help you?"

The greasy faced man huffed, and waved his finger around in front of Brandon's face.

"Yes! I have a complaint! I ordered a pizza for delivery yesterday, and it was early!"

Brandon blinked, staring at the man.

"Um...yeah. You came in yesterday and complained...to me. It's not our fault the pizza came  
early..."

The man snorted, unhappy that this appeared to be getting nowhere.

"Well...I have a new complaint! The order was wrong. I want a refund!"

Brandon sighed and gave in. He leaned over to the computer and started typing.

"Name please? And what was wrong with your order?"

The guy smiled. Now they were getting somewhere.

"Sidney Peck. They gave me a pepperoni pizza and I ordered a plain cheese. I hope you can this!"

Brandon looked at the information, then eyed Sidney. 

"You said you got a pepperoni pizza? Was it a medium?" he asked.

"Yes. That's exactly what it was! How do you know?"

Brandon give him a glare.

"I know because that's exactly what you ordered. You got what you wanted. And you didn't tip  
either."

Sidney huffed again, banging the counter with his fist. 

"That's not what I ordered!" He yelled. 

Brandon raised an eyebrow.

"Yes...it is. Now there is line behind you, so if you don't wish to order anything else, please step  
aside."

Sidney slammed his fists on the counter again, screaming.

"NO! DON'T YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE? I AM NOT  
SATISFIED! I DEMAND FREE STUFF!" 

Brandon growled, getting a headache from the man's screaming. He slammed his hand down in  
front of the other man's,   
glaring at him. 

"Listen. You're not getting anything free, so you might as well go home. Don't come back or  
call in. You will not be served."

Sidney sputtered, not able to believe Brandon just talked to him like that. "I pay your salary!"

"Not with a measly medium pizza," Brandon retorted. "Which I see is your only order here.  
Next?"  



	2. Surprise

Brandon counted the minutes until closing for the third time that evening. But there was still half an hour left. Why did the night have to drag on so slowly? He still had a headache from dealing with Sidney hours before, and now it was accompanied by a runny nose and coughing. He hoped he wasn't coming down with a cold, though it wouldn't surprise him. It seemed to be going around lately,  
and todays trek though the snow wouldn't have helped any.

At least he wouldn't have to walk back. Rachael would be waiting for him in the car at closing.  
Then He'd have to tell her about the next two full work days. What fun. What he was really looking forward to was sleeping.

Brandon leaned back against and sighs. Tonight he would dream of him, Rachael and Daniel on vacation. On a tropical beach...just relaxing, having fun...And being happy.

The computer screen blinked, then went into its screen-saver mode. Brandon jumped at the sudden change, having zoned out for a few minutes. He forced himself to relax, and leaned against the seat and sighed. He was so tired, and after last night he knew he was sick. He was tempted to close early tonight...

He coughed harshly in the silence, taking a few minutes to catch his breath afterward. Damn cold. Why did events always turn worse after they were already bad? He shook his head,  
remembering the conversation he had with his wife the previous night. She had been furious after learning about his extended hours, though she didn't say why. perhaps it was time for another discussion...

With confidence, he picked up the phone, trying to get this done before a work crisis arose.  
Which would only be a matter of time given his luck. Brandon frowns in annoyance when the phone reaches it's fifth ring. "Come on, pick up! What are you doing that's taking so long?  
Painting your nails for the fifth this ho-"

"Hello?"

"Finally!" Brandon covered the receiver as he coughed, then continued. "I thought we should talk...since we didn't last night."

Rachael sighed. "This isn't a good time..."

"There never seems to be a good time." Brandon grunted. "Are you doing something?"

She paused. "No, but-"

"Come on, Rach," Brandon interrupted. "There's been too much of this lately. This silence..."

"I know...I'm sorry...I just...listen, I have to go to my sisters. I'm taking Daniel with me. I can't keep her waiting."

Brandon silently groaned, then nodded as if she were there. "When will you be back?"

"...I don't know..." Rachael hangs up, not wanting to waste any more time.

Brandon stares at the phone, trying to comprehend what the last statement meant. Was she leaving? No...she would be back, she just didn't know when. She wouldn't walk out on him without a word. Would she? No...she just needed space... even though that thought pained him just as much. He loved her...how had things gotten so out of hand?

Muffled voices drifted though the office as he put down the phone, steadily growing louder. He turns his head to try and decipher what was going on without having to move. The noises stopped suddenly, followed by footsteps and one of his employees appearing at the door.  
He groaned, already knowing what was wrong...a customer with a complaint.

Michelle smiled weakly as she tried to appear cheerful for her grumpy boss. She ran her finger though her short dark hair as she murmured. "Yeah...customer wants to talk to you..."

Brandon sighed, rolling his eyes before he stood up. He brushed past Michelle, who appeared content to stay in the office for the time being. He grimaced as he approached the front counter,  
immediately recognizing the customer.

"I do believe you were banned yesterday, so you better have a good reason for returning."

Sidney stared wide-eyed at Brandon, as if he had no idea what the other man was talking about.  
"uh..wha-"

Brandon cut him off. "I'll take that to mean you don't. Get out before I call the cops."

Sidney sneered, leaning forward to yell in Brandon's face. "You can't do that! It's against the law!  
Now shut up and take my order!"

Brandon growled softly, backing away. He was in no mood to be 'customer friendly', especially with the moron screaming at him and making his head hurt. "Idiot. Get out before I leap over this counter and strangle you to death!" He glared, daring Sidney to say anything else.

Sidney grunted, but retreated. "This isn't the last word!" With that, he slammed the door and disappeared from view.

Brandon sighed, turning away from the counter as he tried to calm himself. All the employees dared not come out to the front, not after that little show. He could hear them working with the oven in the back. He regretted taking up the shifts in Brian's place. There was no way he'd last if there were any more 'customers' like Sidney. He'd snap...

He shook his head as he heard the door open, signaling another customer. Alright, time to get back to work.

"Welcome to Dimono's. How can I help yo-" Brandon stopped abruptly when he turned to face the customer, and immediately recognized him. "Alex?"

Alex jerked in surprise at hearing his name, having been looking over the menu on the counter.  
He looked as surprised as Brandon. Brandon...his old friend...working in a pizza place.

"Brandon..." Alex started, then paused to think of what to say. "It's...been a long time."

Brandon nodded, glad there weren't any other customers in the store. He wanted to have some time to talk to Alex. It wasn't everyday you saw your best friend after seven long years! "Yeah.  
What a surprise that you walked into my store on my shift. Amazing. So, how has it been for you?"

Alex chuckled slightly, grinning as he spoke. "Well, I'm in the Acceleration Games. Been competing for a few years now. What about you?" He was curious. The last he heard of Brandon was aspiring to get a mathematics degree and a high end job.

Brandon sighed. "Well, first off...do you remember Rachael? From high school?"

Alex nodded as he thought about the girl. How hurt Brandon had looked, at the first dance of the school year. He frowned a bit. "Yeah...I remember...that bi-"

Brandon interrupted quickly. "I married her."

That made Alex blink, but he quickly recovered and gestured for his friend to continue.

"And we have a son. Seven years old. We named him Daniel." Brandon smiled, then changed the subject. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

"A game. It's being held a few miles out of town, and it's this next weekend. Say...does your son like sports?" Alex questioned, and idea forming in his head. He didn't even want for in answer.  
"Come to the game. It think you'll both like it."

Brandon considered. "But I don't think I'd be able to get tickets in time."

"No problem." Alex blurted happily. "I'll get you back stage passes. You'll have the best view"  
He chuckled.

"Wow...thanks Alex. I'll be there." Brandon wasn't about to pass up seeing his old friend in action, and besides, he did want to introduce Alex to his family.

Alex smiled warmly, then remembered why he came. "Oh! I was picking up three pizzas..." He groaned slightly as he mumbled to herself. "Fidget's going to kill me for taking so long."

Brandon rolled his eyes. "Yeah...you always were the "friendly" one, talking to anybody who came within ten feet of you." He located the boxes and gave them to Alex. "Don't worry about payment. They're on me."

"Thanks. I should be going. See you at the race." Alex winked and took the pizzas to his car. He turned and waved again before entering his car and driving off.

Brandon nodded to himself. "Definitely." 


End file.
